


Bonding Over Sake

by AshleyReyland



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Friendship, Gen, terminal illness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-07-28 14:29:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7644580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshleyReyland/pseuds/AshleyReyland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cloud meets up with Yuffie in Wutai while on a delivery and they have a bonding moment</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bonding Over Sake

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CandlesInTheSnow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CandlesInTheSnow/gifts).



> ...This was supposed to take place during the game and be about motion sickness, but this happened instead...? I hope you like it!

Cloud wasn’t entirely sure how it was that _he_ of all people ended up sitting here with Yuffie, drinking sake that he wasn’t entirely sure that she was old enough to be drinking, in some hole in the wall in Wutai, but here he was.

He actually had been in the area for a delivery when Yuffie stumbled across him. And then proceeded to berate him for not telling her he was in town before demanding that he come and have a drink with her to make it up to her. He didn’t put up much of a fight because, honestly, once he had finished with the delivery he had been planning to see if Yuffie or anyone else was in the area.

He had learned his lesson, finally. He was trying to reach out and open up more, and part of that was actually checking to see if anyone he knew was in whatever place he might be making a delivery to. Yuffie didn’t seem to buy it, but that was fine by Cloud. At the end of the day, they were sitting in a bar drinking so he supposed that it had all worked out.

They had been more or less quietly sipping their sake with little more than small talk about work, about Tifa and the kids, news from Vincent or Cid and occasionally Reeve filling the silence now and again.

Cloud was worried.

He wasn’t sure that he had ever seen Yuffie so quiet. But he wasn’t going to push; it wasn’t his style. He would let her come to him when she was ready.

She was slightly drunk by the time that she did, “My dad’s sick.”

Those three words felt like a punch in the gut. Cloud looked at her fully, mind going blank for anything to say. What could you say? “Sorry”? So he took another sip of his drink and leaned back in his chair a little, mind scrambling to come up with something.

“How long?” Well, that probably wasn’t the best thing to say, but he felt it was relevant to figuring out how much he should react to the situation. It wasn’t like Godo had never had a cold before, so he highly doubted that was what was causing this kind of a reaction.

“Few months at best.”

Cloud let out a slow breath, still trying to figure out what to do. He’d never had to comfort someone who was losing a family member.

Of course, there was when they lose Aeris, but they were all grieving together. This was different. Especially since it was a parent. He tilted his head a little bit in thought.

“…I never knew my dad.”

Yuffie’s head jerked to him immediately. Cloud _never_ talked about his past. Most of what the others knew was from what Tifa knew and drawing their own conclusions. Her brow furrowed a bit, clearly trying to figure out where he was going with that sentence.

“But I was really close to my Ma. She…” He faltered a bit, frown forming, “ _We_ didn’t have much in the way of money. Every winter she’d get very, very sick and every winter I’d struggle to take care of her and just prayed that she’d make it through the night.”

He turned to look at Yuffie, playing with the sake cup in his hands, “…if you need help, I can stay a while.”

Yuffie stared at him with wide eyes. They were friends; no one would ever argue that. They had been through far too much, fought side by side through too many battles to not be friends. But of their group, Cloud was probably the least close to Yuffie out of all of them. She was younger, loud, and pretty much everything that Cloud _wasn’t_ so for him to admit something so personal and then to reach out to her like that.

“…Cloud, you don’t have to do that. I know you have your job. And Tifa and the kids are back in Edge-“

He shook his head, cutting her off, “Tifa and the kids are fine. In fact, if I were to call her and tell her what was happening, she’d tell me to stay put and probably find a way out here herself. Probably on the _Shera_ with the rest in tow.”

Yuffie looked down at the (now empty) sake cup in her hand, allowing a small smile to cross her face, “…thanks chocobo-head.”

Cloud ignored the thank you, pouring her another glass. He didn’t care if she was legally allowed to drink at the moment. Right now she deserved to relax and be happy, because the next few months were going to be a hellish rollercoaster with no way off.

“Your mom,” Yuffie hedged after she had taken another sip of her sake, “I’ve never heard you talk about her before.”

“…Probably not,” Cloud murmured in agreement, looking off into the distance, seeing the past instead of what was there.

“…My mom died when I was a kid. From an illness. I was pretty young so I don’t remember much of it. My dad was the one who took care of her then.”

Cloud’s chest ached at the thought. Losing both of your parents to an illness… He had lived with that fear for years. He couldn’t fathom having to go through it again now.

“Then you’re a lot braver than I am.”

“What? What are you even talking about?”

“…I wouldn’t be brave enough to face that again.”

Silence followed his statement before Yuffie nodded a bit, “I don’t think I’m brave enough either. But I’ll keep pushing myself until I am.”

Cloud quirked a small smile at that. Stubborn as always. He nodded a bit, looking at her, “You’ll be able to do it.”

Yuffie grinned a bit, punching the air with a yell, “Hell yeah I will! I’ll be stronger and braver than even you!”

That actually managed to draw a chuckle from Cloud which made Yuffie turn to look at him in what could only be described as shock and awe, “Did you just laugh? Did I just make you laugh?! Ha! I can do anything!”

Cloud reached over and ruffled Yuffie’s hair, ignoring her cry of indignation as he did, “Yeah, you can. And we’ll be around if you ever need help.”


End file.
